algae scrubber

[PaReeferJ]

I have been reading alot of post on these algae scrubbers and was wondering if you put an algae scrubber in the sump in place of macro. i have macro in my sump right now so would the 2 be working against each other?

 

[ReeferBob]

I think it is one or the other. An ATS consumes all (most) of the available nutrients in the water column. There would be very little left for your macro I think. They would compete with each other. If you don't have an algae problem you don't need an ATS though. And if the macro was established and controlling your algae, my preference would be the macro as it is a great breeding ground for pods.

 

[PaReeferJ]

I think it is one or the other. An ATS consumes all (most) of the available nutrients in the water column. There would be very little left for your macro I think. They would compete with each other. If you don't have an algae problem you don't need an ATS though. And if the macro was established and controlling your algae, my preference would be the macro as it is a great breeding ground for pods.

Ok gotcha thanks

 

[Randy Holmes-Farley Verified Community Expert]

But there's nothing wrong with using both. You may just find that one method predominates over the other what exactly happens may depend on the relative sizes and species involved since some compete better than others.

 

[Reefing Madness]

If you used a big enough Scrubber, that alone would keep your water prestine. Usually with Macro Algae you must have quite a bit to keep a system clean, ATS do a great job of it in much smaller forms.